Massive MullowayNeil Shelton | First Published: July 2009

More often than not when we pen these articles we are predicting what we think can happen at a certain time at a certain place, for our reports.

Such predictions place you in the position of living or dying by your sword. This month I live! In the June article I suggested the chance of some good size mulloway being boated in late June or early July. Proving there is a God, two young intrepid anglers ventured down to the Glenelg for some piscatorial relaxation. Mark Hinkley and Gerard Allman from Geelong struck gold between Simsons Landing and Taylor’s Straight, fishing for bream.

The boys were having success and boated some nice fish along with a good sample of salmon. The previous day Mark had had some success on squid, so he piffed out a good-sized slice on two size 10 hooks. Thirty mayhem minutes later a 42.5lb mulloway was dragged aboard with the help of an extremely undersized landing net.

To add to the story, they got it on 8 pound line on a wee Shimano 2000 reel/light rod combo. Legends of the month for the boys, well done.

More Mulloway

Along with this monster, reports had come from up around the Princess Margaret Rose Caves area with mulloway to 18lb landed. The gang from Mildura guided by Alan Hutcheon of Got One Mildura fame spent a fairly rough week camping at Donovan’s Landing. Alan’s son 11 years old Charles was offered the TT ¼ ounce Vibe in Mango/Lime colour that had proven the best bream catcher over several outings.

Very shortly after tying it on his rod a fierce fighting 75cm mulloway was safely in the boat after a patient 15-minute tussle. You apparently could hear “I caught a mulloway, I caught the biggest fish.” for several kilometres either way along the river.

Alan and company do put some thought behind their fishing. They could see good sized fish down deeper on the fish finders. With windy conditions hindering casting they decided to troll heavier deep diving lures around. Again proving thinking outside the square and trying different techniques can be fruitful.

Bream

Bream continue to be spread throughout the river with the standout areas being the estuary, Donovan’s, Hutchessons and Redgum Landing. As the river colours up from the rains wash off, you need to target off the banks and towards the middle, fishing deeper in about 4-6m of water. Crab again for day fishing and whitebait at night, old mate Scrub worm will come in to play as the water gets dirtier during August and September.

For the plastic and lure fisher’s you will need a bit of weight to get your lures deeper down. Cammo and Pumpkinseed worms should come into the fray for now. Blades such as Vibes, whilst a little boring to fish with, are definitely worth a try at the moment and if you like your hardbodied lures, do yourself a favour and buy some lead putty, pull off the front trebles and replace it with some of the putty. This will help you get your favourite lure down deeper.

Estuary Perch

Estuary perch have been caught around Nelson during July and I can’t see that changing much till after September. Target them from the estuary to Sandy Waterhole; fish along the banks and around snags and structure.

Dawn and Dusk the best times. I know of one angler who pulled 18 good estuary perch out of one snag up near Lasletts, in what could be described as a frenetic session. Two were kept for a feed and the rest released. Lures like SX40s the go and again a little lead putty may be of some use. Live gents and shrimp as fresh as you can get either with little or no weight flicked in close as possible to the banks and structure such as snags and reed beds.

Hope to see you in the Nelson Pub one day over winter, we will have the fires going.